Because We Never Met
by pixies.rock.hard
Summary: The paradox created had backfired and rearranged time all together, unraveling all the events of the past, present and future. Would fate be able to prevail over time and bring back what was torn apart? A/H unedited, not BETAd. criticism please.


**a/n: unedited, not BETA, just a though passing through my mind. 5 chapters least. **

Noise wafted through Holly's bedroom door. The clanging of plates and utensils woke the elf from her sleep. Books, CDs and pictures clattered her small bedroom. Fake, underground sunlight pierced through her beaded curtains. Holly submerged herself in the cool, worn sheets, savoring the luxury of comfort and airiness.

"Holly! Breakfast's ready! Come down here!" her brother's cracking voice said. The new day dawned her. She realized it was the 6th of September already. She rose up from her stupor, jumping out of the bed. She stretched, showered and got dressed.

"Hey, mom. What's for breakfast?" the redhead asked while descending from the creaking steps. The morning was a hen barn once again. The sizzling of what was cooking filled the air. Shouts and laughter goaded the silence that was always nonexistent.

"Something you'll enjoy! Today's your big day remember?" Her mother was a clone of herself. Red hair was ponytailed tightly on her petite head. It swayed slightly as her mom sautéed their breakfast.

The vision of the typical Short morning havoc met Holly. The scene warmed her; suddenly she realized how lonely her life would be if she had to wake up everyday on a moon light shift grabbing only a nutri bar for breakfast with nothing to look forward to but complaining bosses and sexism, and probably some mission recon on trolls. She frowned. She had never been thankful for her family being alive and well, and sexism? What? She didn't even know what that meant. Today was very peculiar.

Her thoughts were disturbed as her brother zoomed past her, up the stairs. "Juniper, watch where you're going!" the elf smiled at her younger brother's ridicule. The boy was 43 and just recently ended his junior year at San D'Klass High School for Elves. His handsome, sharp features were framed by his messy blonde-brown hair that he inherited from their father. "I got to go and meet Stella before she goes to vacation to Atlantis!"

"Hey there, kiddo!" Holly's dad greeted her. Charles Short signaled at the seat beside him where there was already a plate set. "Excited for your big day?"

Holly sat, greeting her mom as she passed by the woman in her hundred fifties. She helped Coral arrange breakfast before retreating to her seat in the dining table.

"This is going to be the day," Holly said as she slurped on her orange juice. "I could feel it. Today I'm going to be admitted into Royal Tours Inc. and I'll be their best tour guide."

"Well, you better do! All that hard work in two semesters of BA Tourism: not to mention the outrageous tuition!" Her mom sat down across the table, setting down the food. "Anyways, help yourself dear, you'll need the energy. I made your favorite: deep fried spinach!"

"Apparently, your brother only has appetite for love." The Haven Times columnist kidded. "He's not the only one's who's late." The man finished his breakfast quickly and stood up.

"Take care, dad"

Her father smiled. "It's not as if I'm one of those LEP doctors who die in radioactivity like those on Fairy CSI, Holly." He kissed the two women and left.

"Hey, I got to go too." Juniper Short said, descending the steps two by two completely out of breath. "Love you lots, mom and Holls" He left to slamming the window.

"And I said I'm glad the Shorts are a family of Art and not those science geeks, doctor, lawyer or LEP legacies. I didn't foresee that a writer, an actor and a socialist like you could be so booked!"

The elf smiled at her mom's sarcasm. It's just the two of them now. When she gets the job, her mother would have to spend mornings and afternoons alone. "Get a job, mom! How about photography like when you were 80?"

"I don't think so. Perhaps I should get those desk jobs LEP is offering at Police Plaza."

"Are you kidding me mom? You're going to get a _desk job_? Organizing papers and schedules? You couldn't even fix our shabby old house you call a family heirloom from Cupid! Besides, Police Plaza is more of havoc than our Friday Family TV dinners ever since that ridiculous gnome shot Captain Trouble Kelp with a smuggled neutrino"

"I think," her mother smiled the way she smiled whenever it was mother-daughter talking time. "You have a crush on that muscle bag of bravado ever since Retrieval One offered your class above ground tips for your Humanitarian class at the University."

"Stop it mom! He probably didn't even look at me. If I may remind you, Retrieval One had a chaperone; some blonde LEP Private that's suppose to be Frond's descendant. She's very pretty."

For several moments, the mother and daughter savored their breakfast quietly. It wasn't awkward. It was just peaceful and comfortable.

When Holly finished licking the crumbs off her plate, she stood up and started getting ready to leave. Her mother stood up and helped her combed her wavy, shoulder-length hair.

"You're going to do great." Coral hugged her daughter. Almost immediately, she released her and started straightening her blazer. "Nice touch of make up."

"I'm wearing none." Holly frowned.

"Exactly."

-

Temperamental and volatile were a few words to describe the morning. Testy and touchy was a very accurate description of Artemis Fowl as he woke up, glaring at the blasted tall windows. The enormous glass panes that stretched from the ceiling to the floor that occupied the south wall of his room glowered at the young boy with morning sun. Artemis trudged towards the offending window and draw back the heavy velvet curtains. Darkness engulfed the room, and Artemis' pessimism lowered but his usual angst still lingered.

After getting dressed, he marched down to the dining room, eager for some breakfast. The sounds of the Butlers' playful bickering filled the mansion's empty hallways.

"Stay back, human! You don't know what you're dealing with!" He heard Juliet shout in an alto voice. Artemis frowned. A strange feeling sank down the adolescent. He heard the phrase before, but the memory was distant and out of reach.

He appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, and immediately the siblings silenced.

"Breakfast would be ready in seven minutes, sir" Butler commented, his eyes downcast.

"Bring them to my study." He left swiftly as he came.

The morning's physical proceedings were normal, quiet as always, though it did not feel right for Artemis. He was submerged in his own senseless, incomprehensible thoughts as he opened the door to his study. It was much less debonair than his father's two floors up. 'Study' was an overstatement actually. The room comprised of a couple of PCs, Macs, laptops, TV screens and a massive bookshelf occupying the south wall. The only thing that was not organized and polished was the mahogany work table in the center, where sketches of world maps, plans and designs clattered with pens and various materials.

He had barely sat down when his mother poked her head through the door.

"Arty, dear, have you had breakfast yet?" Angeline smiled and invited herself inside the room, sitting in the lounge chair beside the shelf. "I asked your father to join us today."

Suddenly the mood light mood that accompanied Angeline vanished inside the room. Artemis glared at his mother, as if she had done a heavy sin. "Are you insane? Demented, perhaps?" After a few seconds, Artemis felt a twinge of guilt at his words, and then the idea of his mother, his only console in the world, would go insane with no hope of recovery.

"I'm sorry." His eyes downcast, he fixed the documents on his table, fidgeting.

"For what? You have all the right to feel what you want to feel. Yet for now, come with me downstairs to meet the vampire of Fowl Manor!" Angeline followed her statement with creepy sound effects and chased Artemis to the dining room.

"What do you think you are doing, Artemis." Artemis junior stopped abruptly in his running, facing the glare of his dad.

"I'm sorry, father."

"Don't mumble." Through all that, Artemis the First's face remained concealed beneath the newspaper. He did not look up at his son even to scold him. Arty sat beside his mother quietly, waiting for Butler's croissants.

"We're going for a tour today, Artemis." The boy looked up, amazed that his father was looking at him. Too beguiled to speak, he nodded his head.

"A little tour of the places you might want to conquer when you're old enough." The voice was clipped and precise. It echoed through the delicate, high ceiling of the room. The youth often wondered if his father's booming voice might shatter the intricate chandelier or ruin the carvings and painting against the wall.

"Father, I was thinking of pursuing a different occupation in-" A wave of the hand cut him off. Silence was immediate.

"Ready yourself. We'll leave in an hour."


End file.
